We have a jam-packed session this evening with four outstanding local acts – the very best of folk music from Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk. We welcome three duos who are playing at Baldock Folk Club for the first time, and one of our favourite solo performers who is fast becoming a stalwart of the club:
Bass & Taylor consists of duo Anna Bass and Ray Taylor.
The couple have been together both romantically and musically since 2009, and live in the North Essex village of Great Bardfield. Both have dabbled in music for most of their lives and most recently were part of the touring folk band Two Coats Colder. From the end of 2020 the couple reverted back to being a duo and now perform at folk clubs, festivals and house concerts up and down the country.
Bass & Taylor perform a good mix of self penned songs plus some better known favourites by artists such as Karine Polwart, Joan Baez, Mike Silver, Anthony John Clarke and Kate Rusby. In their spare time Anna rides horses and they both build and exhibit model railways (well someone has to).
Peter Crossley is Hertford-based and displays impressive skills in singing, playing guitar and fiddle, and songwriting. His debut album, Rags to Riches, has been warmly-received with several radio plays. Peter has a powerful voice and a commanding presence – he wowed us all when he played at the club last year – and we’re looking forward to welcoming him back to Baldock.
Clark & Johnson entertain audiences in Hertfordshire and surrounding counties at festivals, clubs, and open gardens with an eclectic mix of covers and originals. Their highly entertaining and relaxed on-stage presence draws you into the beauty of Karen’s voice and the skill of Tony’s string-plucking. They convey warmth and humour in contemporary folk and country songs about life and death, family and love. Their covers are imaginatively arranged, and their original songs are catchy poetic, and highly singable.
Peter and Jane are a folk duo from Suffolk playing original and traditional songs and tunes on a range of instruments, including Scottish small pipes. They’ve played as support act for Jackie Oates at Ely Folk Club and often perform within the Bury St Edmunds folk community including the Bury Folk Festival, Folk Collective and Milkmaid.